Artelize - Harmony and Heritage: The Immersive Experience of the Three Choirs Festival 2025

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Harmony and Heritage: The Immersive Experience of the Three Choirs Festival 2025

The annual Three Choirs Festival in Hereford, celebrated its historical roots and musical grandeur with a series of spectacular performances by the Philharmonia Orchestra. The festival opened with Mathias's 'This Worlde’s Joie', continued with Howells’s poignant 'Hymnus Paradisi', honored Coleridge-Taylor's 'The Atonement', and concluded with Mendelssohn’s epic 'Elijah'. Each concert featured exceptional artists and highlighted the power of choral music to express joy, grief, and spiritual transcendence, captivating audiences with their emotional depth and artistic mastery.

May 23, 2025

1. Three Choirs Festival: This Worlde’s Joie

We return to our residency at the Three Choirs Festival for the opening weekend of the 2025 festival in Hereford. Mathias’s glorious This Worlde’s Joie is the highlight of this year’s opening evening concert. Joyful and exuberant, this colourful work, full of uplifting voices and chiming bells, is paired with Dvořák’s Te Deum, an electrifying and ecstatic hymn of praise.

Jul 26, 2025

Philharmonia Orchestra

Hereford · Hereford Cathedral

2. Three Choirs Festival: Howells’s Hymnus Paradisi

A little piece of heaven and one of the greatest English choral pieces ever composed. Written as an outpouring of grief after the death of his nine-year-old son, the heartbreakingly beautiful Hymnus Paradisi gives a deeply personal voice to Howells’s pain.

Jul 30, 2025

Philharmonia Orchestra

Hereford · Hereford Cathedral

3. Three Choirs Festival: The Atonement

Discover Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s stirring masterpiece The Atonement in a celebration of his 150th anniversary year. Commissioned by the Three Choirs Festival, with the 1903 premiere conducted by the composer himself and a libretto by local writer Alice Parsons, this is an opportunity to hear a rarely performed gem with its lush, sweeping melodies and majestic grandeur.

Jul 31, 2025

Philharmonia Orchestra

Hereford · Hereford Cathedral

4. Three Choirs Festival: Mendelssohn’s Elijah

We close this year’s Three Choirs Festival with Mendelssohn’s masterpiece, Elijah. A breathtaking oratorio and epic drama of biblical proportions, prepare to be blown away by the full forces of the Festival Chorus and the Philharmonia Orchestra. The story of the prophet Elijah is brought to life through majestic choruses, beautiful solo arias, and dramatic orchestral passages, building to a fiery climax with Elijah’s ascent to heaven in a flaming chariot.

Aug 2, 2025

Philharmonia Orchestra

Hereford · Hereford Cathedral

Conclusion

The Three Choirs Festival 2025 was a resounding success, blending historical works with heartfelt performances. Held in the atmospheric Hereford Cathedral, the festival highlighted the emotive power of choral music and honored the legacies of great composers. As the final notes of Mendelssohn’s 'Elijah' echoed through the cathedral, it was clear that the festival had once again fulfilled its promise of delivering profound and resonant musical experiences that will be cherished by audiences for years to come.

2025 Artelize••